Posted by Richard on August 6, 2006
The Watcher of Weasels has a spot open on the Watcher’s Council. If you’d like to nominate some worthy blogger (maybe yourself), better hurry on over there, check out the rules, and get your nomination in. He’ll be choosing someone soon.
I’m strongly recommending Gerard Van der Leun’s American Digest.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: blogging, watchers council | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Richard on July 20, 2006
The Jawa Report is one of 17 named blogs that, along with a number of domains, have been banned in India — apparently because they offend India’s Islamist Muslims, and the Indian government is afraid of those Muslims. In response, Dr. Rusty Shackleford wrote about why it matters:
Why did India ban this website? And what is the larger meaning of this action?
The short answer to the first question is that we offended Islamists and India is afraid of its own Muslim citizens. The short answer to the second question is that, sadly, it is increasingly becoming evident that liberty may not be able to exist wherever there is a large population of Muslims.
…India has been taken hostage by its sizeable Muslim population. It is afraid of its own citizens. It fears that if they are exposed to that which is religiously offensive, that violence might erupt. That if the government doesn’t do something, then they might just have to do something about the government.
India’s banning of this and other websites, then, is completely rational. It is based on the real fear of real people who do real violence. Thus, it is completely understandable.
While we might understand India’s reason for banning our website, we certainly don’t condone it.
Giving in to violent threats is not, in my book, a winning strategy for defeating the very people who are threatening you. Appeasement only works if your goal is appeasement. If your goal is to drag Muslims who have a 7th century mentality about how the world ought to be ordered into the 21st century, then this is no way to do it.
Read, as they say, the whole thing. And maybe leave Dr. Rusty a note of support.
UPDATE: Welcome, Wall Street Journal readers! Please have a look around. You may see something that interests you in the left sidebar. Or visit my home page for the last week or so of postings, which are mainly about the war against Islamofascism, focusing on the Israeli front.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: blogging, censorship, india, islam, islamofascism | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Richard on June 22, 2006
Apparently, the international public outcry over the imprisonment of Egyptian blogger Alaa Seif al-Islam, a.k.a. Alaa Abdel Fattah — the petitioning, the banners, and maybe even the Googlebombing — made a difference.
On Tuesday, June 20, after 45 days of imprisonment without charges for daring to call for a more independent judiciary, Alaa was ordered to be released by the state prosecutor. Today, finally, after an extra day of beating and mistreatment at a local jail, he’s been freed. Sandmonkey has all the details.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: blogging, egypt, free alaa, human rights, release alaa | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Richard on June 13, 2006
Liberty Corner is hosting the 49th Carnival of Liberty, and it’s huge — nearly 3 dozen entries. Tom did a superb job of organizing and presenting them, with good descriptions and well-selected quotes that are bound to tempt you into clicking. Go check it out — but be sure you have some time free!
No, I don’t know anything about Carnival of Cordite. Gully seems to be on hiatus, although I don’t think it’s because he’s despondent over al-Zarqawi’s demise.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: blogging, carnival of liberty, carnivals, liberty, life liberty property | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Richard on June 13, 2006
Not all the world’s human rights activists are exclusively focused on whether the United States and Israel are being too harsh on Islamofascists dedicated to exterminating Jews, killing Americans, treating women as cattle, and subjugating the entire globe.
Occasionally, some of them have time to notice that there are still plenty of places where people get locked up indefinitely for, say, taking part in a peaceful demonstration. Or blogging. Places like Egypt.
Apparently, the authorities in Egypt weren’t paying attention when Condi spoke in Cairo just about a year ago, and told her hosts:
Now, here in Cairo, President Mubarak’s decision to amend the country’s constitution and hold multiparty elections is encouraging. President Mubarak has unlocked the door for change. Now, the Egyptian Government must put its faith in its own people. We are all concerned for the future of Egypt’s reforms when peaceful supporters of democracy — men and women — are not free from violence. The day must come when the rule of law replaces emergency decrees — and when the independent judiciary replaces arbitrary justice.
The Egyptian Government must fulfill the promise it has made to its people — and to the entire world — by giving its citizens the freedom to choose. Egypt’s elections, including the Parliamentary elections, must meet objective standards that define every free election.
Opposition groups must be free to assemble, and to participate, and to speak to the media. Voting should occur without violence or intimidation. And international election monitors and observers must have unrestricted access to do their jobs.
Take action to demand that the Egyptian government release peaceful demonstrators from prison and meet the minimum standards for a civilized nation outlined by Secretary of State Rice.
Then visit the Free Alaa! blog, which a bunch of us are linking to with the word Egypt. The idea is that, hopefully, it will soon rank highly in Google searches for Egypt.
It’s called Googlebombing. Mark Draughn at Windypundit explained it. And demonstrated how to participate in the fun:
Please join in if you are so inclined. It only takes one link from a page to help a lot.
Of course, if you want to make more than one link, that’s okay too.
In fact, go wild.
Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt EgyptEgypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt EgyptEgypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt.
So there.
Thanks, Mark! I think that makes the concept pretty clear. 🙂
And thanks to Mustapha at Beirut Spring for designing some nice banners.
UPDATE: Alaa was freed on June 22nd! If you helped, pat yourself on the back!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: blogging, condi, egypt, free alaa, human rights, release alaa, rice | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Richard on June 12, 2006
Via Jed at FreedomSight came news of Wadcutter’s big announcement:
Today I successfully defended my thesis.
I’m Dr. Cutter now! And it only took me seven years!
Holy crap the last couple of months were stressful. I think I’ll go on a two-day bender to calm down.
Some of us Denver-area bloggers with an interest in academic achievement, firearms, and beer (not necessarily in that order) — including Jed, David A, David J, and Nick — were discussing an appropriate celebratory event, such as going shooting or gathering at a local watering hole. Steve "Dr. Cutter" Whipple endorsed the general idea with the immortal words:
We could go shooting, or drinking, or shooting then drinking, or whatever.
Well, the plan’s been finalized: it’s a Mini Blogger Bash (but no cool graphic so far) at the Baker Street Pub in Lakewood on Saturday, the 17th. Jed has all the details, including directions, and he’d like you to shoot him an email if you plan to attend — just so he can alert the bar if it looks like we’ll be a sizable mob.
Meanwhile, I’m wondering who’s going to break the news to Whipple that he has to give up his guns.
Yeah, I know it sucks, but that bill snuck through the legislature with little attention and almost no vocal opposition. Buncha damned Democrats voted for it ’cause they hate and fear guns. Buncha damned Republicans voted for it ’cause they hate and fear "pointy-headed intellectuals."
In the wake of all the Ward Churchill stories, I can appreciate how a Republican legislator would feel compelled to vote for this bill. It was politically expedient. Especially with Churchill making speeches urging "direct action" — with the implication that he meant killing the "fascist pigs" — and scores of CU academics eagerly supporting him. Who wants a bunch of scraggly, tofu-breath, wanna-be revolutionaries from Boulder running around armed?
The irony is that Churchill doesn’t even have a doctorate, just some bogus "Master of Enlightenment" from an "alternative" college for creating a series of finger-paintings of indigenous peoples.
Nevertheless, the law — which goes into effect July 1 — states that "no Ph.D., full professor, assistant professor, or associate professor may possess a firearm in the state of Colorado, except in the performance of military service or when called upon by civil authority."
Sorry, Dr. Cutter. I really think they should have exempted Ph.D.s in physics, chemistry, engineering, and a few other carefully chosen fields. But they didn’t. Can I have your GP100? Or maybe the Police Service Six? I like Rugers. 🙂
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: blogging, drinking, education, guns, humor | 1 Comment »
Posted by Richard on May 31, 2006
Just a quick reminder to go check out a couple of this week’s carnivals. First, there’s Carnival of Cordite #60 at Resistance is Futile! Gullyborg managed to put it together in the midst of moving to a new house and new ISP. Lots of links to good stuff, but no pictures (I know — you dial-up folks are cheering). I suppose they’re all still in boxes. 😉
Then, there’s Carnival of Liberty #47 over at New World Man. Lots of good posts, which Matt organized into categories related to the Indy 500 — Gasoline Alley, Yellow Flag, etc. Pretty clever. I think he did it just so he could sprinkle in some pictures of Danica Patrick.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: blogging, carnival of liberty, carnivals, cordite, life liberty property | 2 Comments »
Posted by Richard on May 16, 2006
When I enlisted in the 101st Fighting Keyboardists, I mentioned that Derek of Freedom Dogs might put the logo on a t-shirt. Well, the t-shirt is now available, at least in the initial "combat color" version. I’ve already ordered one. If you’re interested in a black on red version, go there and let Derek know in the comments.
I’d probably buy a black on red shirt, too. But I’d really like a version like the original logo at left. Yeah, I realize the logo contains at least 7 or 8 colors, which would be expensive; but I’m guessing you could get close with just four, depending on the shirt color.
For instance, on a red shirt, you could do it with light green, dark green, black, and yellow. A light green shirt would work, too, using dark green, black, yellow, and red inks.
And on a white or light shirt, can’t you do different intensity/saturation (or whatever it’s called) — like dark green and light green, or black and gray — by doing a screen?
I don’t know much about t-shirt printing, obviously. I just know that I like that logo and the way its colors look together. It would look good on a coffee mug, too, don’t you think?
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: blogging, chicken hawks, fighting keyboardists | 3 Comments »
Posted by Richard on May 13, 2006
I think there’s a pun in that title, but I’m not sure. So, anyway, I dropped by FreedomSight and learned that Jed had a little accident with a table saw. Nothing too serious, thank goodness. I thought I’d leave a snarky little comment and discovered you have to log in to comment. "Hmm," I thought, "do I have a login here? Have I ‘registered’ as a ‘member’?"
I don’t recall, but I’m slightly annoyed. Jed doesn’t like sites that require JavaScript (among other things); I don’t like all the stupid, pointless registrations (among other things). Jeez, Jed, you can’t have that much more traffic than me — do you really need "memberships" to keep the riffraff out? Or the comment spam under control?
Oh, well, I figured I’d give it a try — I plugged in my standard user name and password that I use when I don’t care about security. Got a 404. OK… Tried setting up a new "account" — 404. Tried the forgotten password routine: enter email, click button — 404.
That’s it. I give up. Jeez, all I wanted to say is something like: Hey, Jed, are you qualified to operate a table saw? Obviously, we need a training requirement, and we need to limit access to table saws to licensed professionals. Background checks at Home Depot. Severe penalties for modifying or removing the rip fence.
If it saves just one finger…
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: blogging, humor, power tools | 2 Comments »
Posted by Richard on May 2, 2006
Certain elements of the anti-war left — the 98% who can’t or won’t use rational argument and thus give the rest of them a bad name — like to sneer at people like me as "chicken hawks" and "fighting keyboardists."
Their point, apparently, is that the military, not elected civilians, should determine U.S. foreign policy.
Or maybe their point is that if you oppose crime, you’re morally obligated to join the police force.
Or maybe it’s just that calling people names is much easier and way more fun than critical thinking.
That’s a chicken hawk on the right. Pretty cool bird, actually. Not really much of an insult. [Yeah, I’ve heard of the urban slang term "chickenhawk" (one word); but that’s not this chicken hawk (two words). So there.]
Anyway, rather than object, complain, or argue against all the "chicken hawk" and "fighting keyboardist" nonsense, Frank J of IMAO, Derek Brigham of Freedom Dogs, and Captain Ed of Captain’s Quarters decided to have some fun with it. So, they created the 101st Fighting Keyboardists and adopted the chicken hawk as their mascot. Derek created the spiffy logo below.
In his inimitable, unmedicated fashion, Frank J answered every conceivable question (and some inconceivable ones) about chicken hawks and the 101st Fighting Keyboardists in his FAQ. Here’s a taste:
Q. So why do supporters of the war get called "chicken hawks" like its an insult?
A. Well, the short answer is some people are morons.Q. What’s the long answer?
A. Back when man first started to learn to use tools, certain spears were made using…Q. What’s the medium-length answer?
A. Many liberals, in their diminished mental capacities, like to have a word or phrase to shout over and over in lieu of the mental preparedness needed for an actual debate of issues. Fighting tyranny is a complicated issue, and, rather than admit they’re on the side of tyranny, many liberals will try to avoid debate altogether in any way possible.Q. Liberals seem to use the phrase "chicken hawk" against people who aren’t in the military? Do liberals want a government where decisions are only made by those in the military?
A. No, they hate the military.Q. But they say they support the troops!
A. And you can train a parrot to say the same thing. That doesn’t mean anything.
I’ve enlisted in the 101st Fighting Keyboardists and added their blogroll in the right sidebar. To keep the page from getting absurdly long, I "borrowed" some CSS from The Anti-PC League (tweaked it a bit) to put the blogrolls on the right into scroll boxes. What do you think?
Derek of Freedom Dogs is considering making this logo available on a T-shirt. If you’re interested, drop by this post and let him know.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: blogging, chicken hawks, fighting keyboardists, politics, war | 2 Comments »
Posted by Richard on April 27, 2006
If you’re familiar with N.Z.Bear’s TTLB Ecosystem, some occasional strangeness probably doesn’t surprise you. But I thought this was rather ironic: I was out of town for a while visiting family and haven’t blogged in a week (sorry, faithful readers; I could have, but had other things on my mind). Last night, when I visited my blog, I found that I’d risen a couple of hundred places in the ecosystem and reached Large Mammal status. Gee, I wonder how long I’d have to abstain from posting in order to become a Playful Primate?
The odd thing is that my rise was accompanied by a drop of about 40 links, from 230-odd to under 200. So I suppose there was some significant upheaval in the ecosystem that recalibrated everyone downward in links (and consequently upward in ranking).
Anyway, reason has been restored in the ecosystem, and I’m back in the upper reaches of marsupialdom where I belong.
I rather like being a cute, cuddly little marsupial:
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: blogging, cuteness, ecosystem | 1 Comment »
